Banks Overestimate Their Identity Defenses to the Tune of $34B a Year

As financial services firms push deeper into digital channels, identity verification has quietly become one of the most consequential—and most underestimated—forces shaping growth, risk and customer experience. “When ‘Good Enough’ Isn’t Enough: Digital Identity Verification in the Age of Bots and Agents,” a collaboration between PYMNTS Intelligence and Trulioo, examines how legacy approaches to know your customer (KYC) and know your business (KYB) are colliding with a new reality defined by automated fraud, synthetic identities and AI-driven attacks.

Most financial institutions express confidence in their identity systems. But that confidence often masks persistent friction, missed opportunities and measurable financial losses. Digital channels now account for the majority of revenue for many firms. This increases the downstream impact of inconsistent verification results, excessive checks and manual reviews. These breakdowns frustrate legitimate customers during onboarding and create openings for sophisticated fraud schemes that increasingly evade traditional controls.

The research shows that identity failures are no longer isolated compliance issues. They affect conversion rates, delay time-to-value, restrict geographic expansion and expose firms to regulatory and reputational risk. The rise of adversarial bots and autonomous agents is raising the stakes, pushing identity verification from a back-office function to a strategic capability that directly influences competitiveness. Firms relying on familiar vendors and incremental improvements may believe their systems are sufficient. “Good enough” is becoming a liability in an environment where bad actors move faster than controls from a simpler era.

In “When ‘Good Enough’ Isn’t Enough: Digital Identity Verification in the Age of Bots and Agents,” learn how:

Digital identity has shifted from a compliance requirement to a growth bottleneck. Onboarding friction, false positives and inconsistent verification outcomes stifle customer acquisition and limit expansion across markets and channels.

Emerging fraud tactics are exploiting gaps in traditional verification models. From synthetic identity fraud to automated account takeovers, modern threats are designed to pass standard checks while causing significant financial and operational damage.

Advanced identity platforms are changing what “effective” verification looks like. Companies using more integrated, global approaches report smoother verification over time. This highlights the performance gap between legacy systems and next-generation identity strategies.

This report offers a data-driven look at why identity verification has become a defining challenge for financial services leaders—and why rethinking “good enough” may be critical to continuing trust, growth and resilience in the digital economy.

Download the Report When ‘Good Enough’ Isn’t Enough: Digital Identity Verification in the Age of Bots and Agents

About the report

“When ‘Good Enough’ Isn’t Enough: Digital Identity Verification in the Age of Bots and Agents” is based on a survey of 350 companies held from Aug. 1, 2025, to Sept. 10, 2025. The report explores the effectiveness of digital identity systems in stopping fraud and driving growth. Industries surveyed included financial services, gig platforms, online marketplaces, retail trade, software platforms and travel and hospitality. Companies operate in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, the European Union and and other European countries, China, India, Japan and other Asia-Pacific countries, the Middle East, Australia/New Zealand, Africa, Mexico and other Latin American countries.